DOA: The Galaxy Gear reportedly has a 30 percent return rate at Best Buy

Samsung shouts "First!" in the wearables market. To what end?

If you hesitated to call the Galaxy Gear a flop after all of the negative reviews, consumers have weighed in with their opinion of the device too, and it's not pretty: nearly a third of Galaxy Gear owners return the device.

Geek.com has obtained an internal memo from Best Buy and Samsung pegging the return rate at "above 30 percent." It sounds like the companies are somewhat puzzled by this, as the memo asks employees to help figure out why customers are so dissatisfied. Consumers are probably running into the same problems we found in our review: The Galaxy Gear requires a smartphone, but it's incompatible with most smartphones. It's supposed to relay notification information from apps, but it doesn't support the vast majority of apps, including apps made by Google, which are among the most popular on Android.

While several Samsung phones will eventually be updated to work with the Gear, Samsung only controls about 24 percent of the US market. Even if the Gear worked with every Samsung phone, it would still be incompatible with 76 percent of smartphones.

To be fair, the Gear demos extremely well. In the store (and at press events), Samsung has already set up all the clunky workarounds needed to get the Gear to do anything. When customers take the device home, they no doubt realize that the cool e-mail demo they got in the store requires them to ditch their current first-party push e-mail app and switch to Android's terrible POP3 client. It's the same story for other important functions like IM and social networks.

For the most part, wearables remain unnecessary luxuries. People will only be interested in them if they genuinely improve their lives and are easier and faster to use than a smartphone. The tolerance for a poor user experience goes way down when you have a device in your pocket that can do many of the same things. Until someone comes up with a successful template for a wearable device, expect more and more horror stories like this.

$300 is too rich for a phone accessory with limited and redundant functionality. Should've been bundled with the Note 3 for a +$150 premium or $199 as stand-alone. Had a chance to buy it with 30% off coupon but passed. Rather add the upcoming Nexus 5 to my Note 3 collection.

It's actually worse than that. Pebble made the first post. Sammy made the second post with "FRist!!!11"

Besides that, Pebble mostly works with comparatively little fiddling and few workarounds out of the box.

I own a Pebble (backed the Kickstarter) and it mostly works as advertised. I like it a lot, and am wearing it at the moment.

Although the color screen is attractive, the Gear looks clunky and unappealing in comparison. I own a Galaxy S4 but I run the Google Play Edition ROM, so it wouldn't work for me anyway. The charge lasting a single day is a huge minus, together with the poor support for most applications. If Pebble can install a notification service via the Android Accessibility APIs, Samsung should be able to as well.

In other words, I am a huge geek who owns Samsung hardware and will pay for wearables.... and I'm not the target market for this device. I have no clue who is.

I still haven't been able to figure out why I'd use one even if it worked with my phone AND it were free. I don't want to strap a device such as this on my wrist and I don't see that it does anything I need done. I know that Apple is rumored to be working on a similar device, but unless it does something I can't imagine (which could be true), I won't want whatever they come up with, either.

It's actually worse than that. Pebble made an intelligent well written comment as the first post. Sammy followed up as the second poster with "FRist!!!11"

Samsung was at best third, since Sony also has a smartwatch out that works with any Android 4.0 phone, not just few select devices. Not sure why all the attention being paid to the Samsung one, since by all accounts it is worse than the pebble and sony watches.

I think the Apple Rumors are just that - Rumors. Cook said nobody in thier twenties wears watches and he said to get them to it would have to do something incredible that no other device can even remotely mimic.

I have my doubts apple, or anyone, has figured it out. Google glues with a mini HUD seems a million times more useful than a smart watch.

I also can't fathom why some people own a mac, an iPhone and an iPad; it all seems terribly redundant given that the functionality can be interchanged between the two iOS devices.

It's pretty simple actually. iphone means I'm not at home or can't reach my ipad. ipad means I'm at home and not doing work. mac booted into os x means i'm doing work, mac booted into Windows means i'm playing a game that's not on iOS.

I would love to have a smart watch for my iphone, especially now that winter is approaching. Having to open up my jacket, pull off my gloves and sometimes also struggle with the headphones cord when it's -20C and winds gust at half-storm level outside to be able to interact with the phone is a real drag. If I was to have access to at least simple controls, and also preferably a headphones jack right on my wrist, I think that could be a fair boon to me actually.

What I feel is Samsung's biggest fail with the gear is (besides the ugly appearance), is its poor integration with the operating system itself and even more so, its apps. Needing to actually run apps on the device itself is a good way to drain it of power, and the poor battery life reflects this. Ideally, the watch should only have just enough computing oomph to drive the display, touchscreen and communicating back with the phone in my pocket.

Any app displaying data on the watch should run on the phone, with its much better core infrastructure (CPU, RAM, sensors, battery etc.) Of course, samsung is in a bind here as they don't want to rely on google apps but rather their own these days, while android itself is deeply infested with google's apps and services. So the ones taking the hit squarely in the nuts are samsung's own customers, when they can't use the apps and services they've become dependent on with their new shiny expensive samsung gadget. This really wasn't well thought-out at all.

Apple, having no schizophrenic power struggles between giant multinationals fragmenting its user experience, should be able to do better, IF they ever get their ass out of the gate that is...!

It's actually worse than that. Pebble made an intelligent well written comment as the first post. Sammy followed up as the second poster with "FRist!!!11"

Samsung was at best third, since Sony also has a smartwatch out that works with any Android 4.0 phone, not just few select devices. Not sure why all the attention being paid to the Samsung one, since by all accounts it is worse than the pebble and sony watches.

It's actually worse than that. They were fourth at best. The current Sony that you mention was the second generation one. They had one out at least a year before that. And let's not forget the Moto-Actv which I really wish they would update (I want stand-alone gps, but the 1st gen Moto had some water damage issues in reviews).

It's actually worse than that. Pebble made an intelligent well written comment as the first post. Sammy followed up as the second poster with "FRist!!!11"

Samsung was at best third, since Sony also has a smartwatch out that works with any Android 4.0 phone, not just few select devices. Not sure why all the attention being paid to the Samsung one, since by all accounts it is worse than the pebble and sony watches.

It's actually worse than that. They were fourth at best. The current Sony that you mention was the second generation one. They had one out at least a year before that. And let's not forget the Moto-Actv which I really wish they would update (I want stand-alone gps, but the 1st gen Moto had some water damage issues in reviews).

Don't forget about those Microsoft SPOT watches that while they didn't tether to a smartphone they certainly did smart things, such as show IMs,spots weather etc.

...cool e-mail demo they got in the store requires them to ditch their current first-party push e-mail app and switch to Android's terrible POP3 client.

Ahhh. I think it should be mentioned that while the stock Android IMAP/POP3/Exchange client is pretty mediocre, the stock Samsung email client really isn't all that bad. I've seen far worse on the Play market, and the Samsung email app is a step up from the stock Android one. Personally, I think Google keeps the stock Android email app where it is in order to drive people to the better Gmail app, but that's just me being paranoid these days.

Either way, though, Samsung Gear compatibility is a legitimate issue. Samsung wants to use the Gear to leverage more customers into their Samsung ecosystem, but that only works if there is a broad selection of devices that work together to leverage. Right now, there isn't.

I have never been convinced smartwatches will ever be a must-have thing with widespread adoption. They will have to do something unique and special to create any sizable demand.! Just parsing information from the phone you are carrying, in a sub par format, is not ever going to cut it.

There is no real point for most people to wear a watch of any kind except as jewelry as it is.

"While several Samsung phones will eventually be updated to work with the Gear, Samsung only controls about 24 percent of the US market."

This could also be said about all Apple products: worldwide - 6% share in PCs, 20+% share in smart phones, 20-% share in tablets etc. Yet this fact rarely is mentioned on Ars (and elsewhere) as a critical factor. If Gear is going to work with just Samsung phones, it'll have way more smart phones to pair with that iWatch ever will.

There's rarely a mention of how comically HUGE this thing is. I saw it in a Samsung store this week and it is THREE times thicker than the watch I have now. I literally burst out laughing when I first saw it and then had to make an awkward exit.

"While several Samsung phones will eventually be updated to work with the Gear, Samsung only controls about 24 percent of the US market."

This could also be said about all Apple products: worldwide - 6% share in PCs, 20+% share in smart phones, 20-% share in tablets etc. Yet this fact rarely is mentioned on Ars (and elsewhere) as a critical factor. If Gear is going to work with just Samsung phones, it'll have way more smart phones to pair with that iWatch ever will.

Samsung control's 24% of the US smartphone market, but the thing is, of that 24% how much is devices that can work with this smartwatch?

So over 30% of what total? I'm curious how many people were duped into buying one of these. The watch is so obviously a fail. 1 day battery - fail. Limited compatibility - fail. Samsung only apps - failCamera on band - failSize - failWake to view time - fail

"While several Samsung phones will eventually be updated to work with the Gear, Samsung only controls about 24 percent of the US market."

This could also be said about all Apple products: worldwide - 6% share in PCs, 20+% share in smart phones, 20-% share in tablets etc. Yet this fact rarely is mentioned on Ars (and elsewhere) as a critical factor. If Gear is going to work with just Samsung phones, it'll have way more smart phones to pair with that iWatch ever will.

That assumes Apple doesn't make a standalone item. Which in this case I think they'd be silly to do and not something they're done with any other products.

But right now, the Gear only works with the Note 3, which is hardly the best seller. If I was someone buying a brand new Gear off the shelf I'd assume it works with the phone sitting next to it (the S4, most likely).

So a device rushed to market after rumours of an Apple smart watch reached critical mass is deeply flawed? And has no compelling reason to exist? And doesn't work well with just about everything, including the majority of the manufacturer's own devices?

And people are returning them in droves?

Well, I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

I don't believe Apple is making a watch or TV. I think they may have investigated their options at some point, and are more than happy to put a few leaks out to see if any competitors are stupid enough to... do exactly what Samsung has done.

If they made something like this work, there would be a solid market for it. Equipped with a gps, it would replace all those who track their runs and walks with their phone. If it displayed texts, reminders, lists, email, etc., it would help preserve battery life on your phone for when you need to do something more cpu intensive.

Plus, there's a large portion of the population that absolutely needs this item to prevent them from dropping their expensive phone. It's a tough sell because watches are supposed to be a fashion item nowadays, and these things aren't fashionable, but if they could convince this new generation to wear the monster size watches they wear now, they can convince them to wear a monster size watch that actually does something.

I was interested in seeing the Galaxy Gear when it came out (I work for an unnamed retail company as a member of the group known for wearing black clip on ties and driving small bugs), it did look cool when I played around with a demo model however it quickly became evident that it was aimed squarely at the wrong market.

I bought a Pebble because it is aimed at precisely the correct sort of market that a smartwatch should aim for. I do not need an expensive replacement for my phone with a limited battery life and poor integration with 99.999 percent of phones. I need a device that functions as a seamless extension of my phone, and for that the Pebble does an excellent job. It worked quickly out of the box and easily synced with my Gmail account. It lasts for days on a charge, makes it easy for me to see who is calling, control my music when I am driving or listening to my earbuds. I do not need a microphone in my watch as why in the world would I want to talk into my watch? I do not need a camera in my watch as again; why in the world would I use my watch to take photos? I am not James Bond and I do not find myself in situations where I need to surreptitiously record audio and/or video.

Looks wise, it is a simple and innocuous black watch that does not look in the slightest out of place on my wrist. The Galaxy Gear on the other hand...well, it is very noticeably present and almost shrieks for attention. I do like the band it has; as the Ars reviewer pointed out, they put a really nice band on it. I will probably end up swapping out my Pebble band for something more like the clasp style that the Gear boasts.

Certainly the Pebble is not perfect, the software still has some things that need to be worked out, and the iOS app especially is bare bones. And I really should not have to jailbreak my phone in order to expand my Pebble's functionality fully. However, it nails down the important parts of a smartwatch almost perfectly. To be the complement of my phone, not the substitute. Pebble got it right and Samsung didn't.

I don't like wearing watches as I have almost every device telling me what time it is. However I would use a device that strapped to my wrist that allowed me to read biometric information and run apps if it could replace my phone in certain circumstances like when I exercise or am unable to carry a phone for whatever reason (waterproof would be nice)

Samsung's trifecta became triagainfecta. I have both the galaxy note 3 and the note 2014 tablet so I'm hooked onto samsung's feature set. The gear would have been a natural extension but the poor battery life was a no go. The phone and tablet can go 2 days and change without plugging in. Why would you then shackle your customers to a device that needs to be fed every night?

That plus what was mentioned above about waterproofing seemed like it was adding something to my life that I had to care for instead of something that made it more carefree.

"While several Samsung phones will eventually be updated to work with the Gear, Samsung only controls about 24 percent of the US market."

This could also be said about all Apple products: worldwide - 6% share in PCs, 20+% share in smart phones, 20-% share in tablets etc. Yet this fact rarely is mentioned on Ars (and elsewhere) as a critical factor. If Gear is going to work with just Samsung phones, it'll have way more smart phones to pair with that iWatch ever will.

Even if Samsung gets it to work with all Samsung smartphones, their fanboys will still suffer from low self-esteem and sense of injustice that compels them to bash Apple every time they get. I'm not a psychologist but I'm sure there is a name for this.

"While several Samsung phones will eventually be updated to work with the Gear, Samsung only controls about 24 percent of the US market."

This could also be said about all Apple products: worldwide - 6% share in PCs, 20+% share in smart phones, 20-% share in tablets etc. Yet this fact rarely is mentioned on Ars (and elsewhere) as a critical factor. If Gear is going to work with just Samsung phones, it'll have way more smart phones to pair with that iWatch ever will.

Excellent point. Samsung is no more crazy to make devices that only work with their products than Apple is to do the same, so it is hard to understand why Ars would mention this as a reason the gear is a flop.. Especially considering how many perfectly valid reasons there are for its failure. That stuck out to me as I read the article.

Samsung made this one for the museums. They're only allowing you the privilege to partake in this 1st edition collector's item that will one day be worth much more for so succinctly epitomizing all that was wrong with Samsung at its peak.

There's rarely a mention of how comically HUGE this thing is. I saw it in a Samsung store this week and it is THREE times thicker than the watch I have now. I literally burst out laughing when I first saw it and then had to make an awkward exit.

Yeah but it does include a perv cam for sneak shots so it has that going for it.

Ron Amadeo / Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work.